Ms Anca Dragu, Governor of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM), held a bilateral meeting with Mr Trajko Slaveski, Governor of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia.

The discussions focused on developing bilateral cooperation, recent macroeconomic developments, and the role of the NBM in the country’s European Union accession process through the strengthening of a stable and secure financial system in line with European standards.

During the meeting, the NBM Governor reaffirmed the central bank’s commitment to effective monetary policy, noting that the financial sector remains resilient, with risks under control, while the economic outlook remains sensitive to external shocks, requiring close monitoring of developments.

Governor Anca Dragu presented the main measures promoted by the NBM to align national legislation with the European Union acquis, while also referring to the National Bank’s efforts to obtain recognition by the European Banking Authority (EBA) of the equivalence of the Republic of Moldova’s prudential banking framework with that of the European Union.

An important topic of the meeting was the development of payment systems, with integration into the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) serving as a concrete example of closer alignment with European payment infrastructure.

“The reforms undertaken by the NBM are connecting the Republic of Moldova to the European financial space, while integration into SEPA demonstrates that our country can rapidly implement European standards. Almost one year after integration, SEPA has already accounted for the majority of EUR transactions - more than 81% of the total volume and around 47% of the value of cross-border transactions. EU accession represents a unique opportunity for the Republic of Moldova to accelerate its economic convergence and improve its standard of living, and to take full advantage of this opportunity, we must maintain the pace of reforms and continue strengthening our institutions,” Ms Anca Dragu emphasised.

In this context, the NBM Governor referred to the national MIA Instant Payments system, which has become a regional benchmark project and has established itself as modern infrastructure for payments in MDL, demonstrating, along with integration into SEPA, that the Republic of Moldova is already able to operate within the modern European payments ecosystem.

The meeting took place in the context of Mr Trajko Slaveski’s participation in the second edition of the international conference dedicated to European convergence, organised by the NBM in partnership with the Banque de France and the National Bank of Romania.